Three men from the Nebraska Athletics Department improved significantly on Tuesday night.
On the floor, Bryce McGowans improved her freshman freshman candidacy of the year by 26 points to lead Nebraska (9-21, 3-16 Big Ten) over №23 in Ohio (18-9, 11-7 Big Ten). ) 78 -70 in Columbus.
Why was this award a little more important in this game? On Monday, Ohio coach Chris Holtman told 97.1 The Fan that McGowans will not get his vote as a freshman in the league.
“They have a freshman (Bryce McGowans) fighting for freshman of the year. He will not receive my vote. “
On the bench, Fred Heuberg gave the doubters something to think about. Heuberg achieved consecutive victories for the first time in his term in Nebraska. Tuesday night marked the first victory over a ranked opponent after being eliminated in the last 24 games, returning to 2019.
Back in Lincoln, Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts won more recognition for his decision to keep Heuberg for another year. Alberts said last week that Heuberg sold it for the future of the program. This future looks better when you win road games against ranked opponents.
The Huskers led most of the way against the Buckeyes, but did not take control immediately. Ohio State led by seven in the first half and led 30-29 by 5:51 at halftime.
Nebraska used 8-0 to take the lead with four at halftime. Ohio scored 3 with 10 seconds left to score their only goal of the flight in the final 8:11.
For most of the second half, the game was divided into at least two possessions. The Huskers increased their lead to 11 with 3:33 before a 7-0 series by Buccaneer.
But Nebraska did what was necessary at the last minute: he made free throws. The Haskers made five in the last 51 seconds to seal the victory.
Alonzo Verge Jr. controlled the attack with 11 assists and 13 points.
Helping his brother, Trey McGowans finished Malaki Branham with 16 points in a 5 out of 11. Branham is another Big Ten freshman of the year.
CJ Wilcher scored 15 points, 13 of them in the first half.
The Huskers shot 49.1 percent for the game, including 9 of 23 out of 3 and 15 out of 18 on the free throw line.
With only one game left in the regular season, Nebraska head to No. 10 in Wisconsin on Sunday before the Big Ten tournament next week.